The present invention relates to sealing and seal members. More particularly, the present invention relates to seal members having members which control the longitudinal elongation of the seal member.
In the automotive, as well as other industries, it is desirous to have seal members that adhesively affix to objects which are to be sealed. Especially in the automotive industry, it is desirous to directly affix seal members to sheet metal work such as doors or the like. To reduce labor costs and increase uniformity, adhesive seals are positioned onto the sheet metal work by robots or the like. The robots, while applying the seal members, have a tendency to stretch and elongate the seal members as they are positioned onto the sheet metal work. Often times, the seals are stretched beyond their desired elongation. Thus, it is desirous to have members, such as a fiberglass, nylon, polyester, Kevlar or the like strands longitudinally positioned in the seal to prevent excessive elongation of the seal members.
Relevant art provides seal members with strands embedded into the seal during manufacturing. The embedding of strands into the rubber seal members requires special machinery to inlay the strands within the seal members during extrusion. While the process works satisfactorily, the tooling is relatively expensive. Also, it is difficult to control the positioning of the strands within the seal member.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide the art with seal members which have controlled longitudinal elongation characteristics. Another object of the present invention is to provide the art with a simple and relatively inexpensive method to produce length control seal members. The present invention also provides the art with a seal member that may be easily adhesively affixed to an object such as a vehicle door or the like.
In accordance with the present invention, the sealing member includes a portion for sealing the object such as a vehicle door, window, body or the like. The sealing member is elongated and defines a longitudinal axis. The sealing member is formed from an elastomeric material and includes a surface to couple the sealing member along the longitudinal axis. One or more length control members are positioned on the coupling surface along the longitudinal axis. A heat activated member is positioned on the surface such that the length control members sandwich between the heat activated member and the coupling surface. The heat activated member is heated to bond to the coupling surface such that the heat activated member fixedly secures to the coupling surface forming a laminate sealing member.
From the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings and the appended claims, other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.